Peninsula water authority wants supply plan by mid-April

The Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority wants its new technical advisory committee to propose a plan for a preferred water supply alternative by the middle of next month, before California American Water submits its proposal to the state Public Utilities Commission.

The seven-person committee, set up by the authority at its meeting late Thursday in Seaside, will be charged with vetting Cal Am's proposed project after it is submitted. Cal Am plans to file a new project application to the PUC on April 23, about three months after announcing it was withdrawing its support for the ill-fated regional desalination project.

Three people were named to the advisory committee on Thursday — George Riley, Roger Dolan and Bill Reichmuth. The rest of the committee's members, to be named later, will represent the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, the city of Seaside and a Monterey business coalition.

Monterey Mayor Chuck Della Sala, authority president, said the committee feels a sense of urgency because of the short amount of time before Cal Am submits its proposal and because of the 2016 deadline for coming up with a replacement source of water for the Peninsula.

But Della Sala insisted there is time for the authority, which includes six Peninsula mayors, to have a major influence on the preferred alternative.

"The mayors are in agreement that we need to play a leadership role, and, yes, we believe there is time before (April 23) and we will weigh in afterward," Della Sala said.

Authority vice president Sue McCloud, whose offer to serve pro bono as the organization's executive director was tabled late Thursday, said she believes there will be plenty of time after Cal Am's proposal to influence the ultimate decision.

McCloud, who is not running for another term as Carmel mayor and would therefore soon be replaced on the authority, said there is a "common belief" among much of the public that Cal Am has made up its mind on what water supply project to pursue.

"There is a feeling on the authority that we have to say something by (April 23) to have legitimacy, but the CPUC will take up to a year to look at (the Cal Am proposal)," she said. "There's also the feeling that Cal Am's going to do what it's going to do."

McCloud said the odds are Cal Am will propose a plan that combines a seawater desalination plant, aquifer storage and recovery, and groundwater replenishment.

The firm argued in PUC filings that desal will have to be part of any project because other alternatives aren't cost-effective, can't meet the deadline and can't fully meet the demand by themselves.

Desal is regarded as the lone drought-resistant alternative, though it could be the most expensive if privately financed. It could be difficult to implement, with obstacles such as unresolved environmental review and water rights issues and the county's public ownership requirement.

Riley, founder of the group Citizens for Public Water, said he is concerned the authority is deferring to Cal Am on an alternative proposal, then planning to react rather than being proactive.

He said he is concerned the authority may try to limit its review to exclude some potential alternatives, such as developer Nader Agha's Moss Landing desal plant proposal, simply because they're not proposed by Cal Am.

"We're trying to disentangle and be independent from the CPUC process," he said. "I believe all projects should get a fair shot at evaluation. I still think there's an opportunity for independence."

He noted some discussion at Thursday's meeting about adding water to meet the need for development and growth, and suggested that would confuse the authority's self-stated charge to concentrate its efforts on promoting a replacement water source by the deadline.

Della Sala and McCloud said they wouldn't support including water for future growth in the authority's proposal, with McCloud saying that would "probably doom" the group's efforts.

Thursday, the authority appointed Della Sala as its representative at a public water forum set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Seaside's Oldemeyer Center. The forum is sponsored by the county, the authority, the water management district, the water pollution control agency and Cal Am, and will be facilitated by the Monterey College of Law.

The authority's next meeting is 6 p.m. March 22 in Pacific Grove, with the site to be determined.